Coffee break creative writing exercise: Fairytales

You don't need to spend hours on your writing to feel creative. Fuel your imagination wherever you are with our 15-minute coffee break exercise.

Set your timer for three minutes. Jot down the titles of as many fairy-tales as you can remember.

Choose one. Set the timer for five minutes. Write down ‘the bones’ of the original story.

For your remaining time, create the beginning of a modern version. For instance, what if the Three Bears were a gang of robbers and Goldilocks was a detective sent to hunt them down – or what if the witch in Hansel and Gretel was fed up with children damaging her cottage and set up a plan of her own.